With more and more commercial activity being conducted via computers, computer security is becoming more of a concern to the average computer user. One aspect of computer security is verifying that a computer program operates as advertised.
Computer programmers use various computer languages (e.g., C++, Perl, JAVA etc.) to write computer programs. A computer program written in a human readable programming language is called source code. Source code must be converted, or compiled, into a form that can be read by a computer before the computer program can be run on a computer. A computer readable program is called object code.
Each line of object code provides some type of information to a computer (e.g., an instruction, data, etc.). Collectively, the lines of object code control the operation of a computer. The execution sequence of object code is called control flow.
Because of the possibility of looping and branching within loops, a brute force attempt to enumerate the paths through a computer program will most likely fail. Therefore, there is a need for a method of converting a computer program that contains loops to one that does not.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,266, entitled “METHOD OF, SYSTEM FOR, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR PERFORMING WEIGHTED LOOP FUSION BY AN OPTIMIZING COMPILER” discloses a method, device, and computer program product of combining loops of the same type (i.e., parallel or serial) if contractable. U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,266 does not eliminate loops in a computer program as does the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,266 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,373, entitled “TRACKING LOOP ENTRY AND EXIT POINTS IN A COMPILER,” discloses a device for and method of separating the tracking of loop entry and exit points and loop optimization information (e.g., if two loops were formed from one loop). U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,373 does not eliminate loops in a computer program as does the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,373 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,272,676, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FINDING LOOP-LEVEL PARALLELISM IN A POINTER BASED APPLICATION,” discloses a device for and method of finding loop-level parallelism and flagging the same for possible multi-thread execution. U.S. Pat. No. 6,272,676 does not eliminate loops in a computer program as does the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 6,272,676 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.